The Areté Media Academy -- formerly the Digital Design & Media Academy --is a California Partnership Academy, with an emphasis on video production, graphic design, audio production and animation, with vocational experiences in those areas. Students select the academy from seven focus areas at Windsor High School. The Areté program is designed to provide academy opportunity, technological training and vocational exposure to over one hundred students annually, many of whom come from an at-risk population.
The Academy is housed in and around the state-of-the-art Digital Media Center at Windsor High School, which was completed in 2012. Students make use of a professional TV and audio production studio, as well as receiving intermediate-level training in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Premier Pro, Flash and AfterEffects. Students become members of media-making teams through rigorous cross-curricular projects, multimedia workshops and advanced production opportunities. The academy draws from a wide spectrum of students, from those who are new to producing digital media to those who are already highly motivated and experienced. Students are steeped in the principles of design, of what it means to produce media for a demanding audience and how academic principles are always present in digital work. Students receive technological instruction that makes them confident in using professional applications, develop a professional portfolio for use after graduations, and most importantly, know that they are a part of a community of creative and inquisitive students. |